Is That Too Much?: A Guide on Paying for Venues

It’s time to plan! You’re gathering all the specifics. Caterer, photographer, etc. But before you schedule them, you need to book a venue. Of course AVVAY makes this very easy for you, however, its still important to know the ins and outs of finding the right space. Part of booking the best space is knowing how it fits with your budget. To help you find the best bang for your buck, we talked with Dave Krock, one of our investors and owner of multiple event venues, to see what you as a renter should consider when it comes to paying to use a venue space.

What often determines the cost of a venue?

Usually there’s a uniqueness factor, also size. A larger venue will cost more than a smaller venue. If there is a uniqueness about the space, it’s one of those types of things that its really hard to duplicate or has unique features that you can’t get anywhere else or is a specific location. You know, the top of the Eiffel Tower would be an extremely expensive venue, right? But something that you can replicate easily would be less expensive.

What is the average price range for a decent venue?

That is completely market dependent. Again, it comes down to size. It comes down to what’s included. There’s a lot of things that are included with some venues. Other venues may not include anything. Some venues may include things like tables and chairs and someone to set everything up according to your specifications. Other venues won’t include anything. They’ll say that you walk in and take care of everything. So a lot of those things add into the price, but usually there’s some mid-point which a lot of the top venues tend to center around and then there’s a few a little below that and one or two might push above that.

What are some red flags to watch out for when you’re considering a venue?

It depends on the type of event you’re having. If your event is very simple to pull off, then you don’t need as much from the venue. And as long as you know what to expect when you go in, that everything you might potentially need is either already there or included, that’s all that’s important. If you have a really complex event, then you’re going to need the venue a little more. And if they’re not prepared to handle that sort of hand holding or customer service, that could be something to watch out for. I think also, what’s included, what’s not included. Sometimes you could price out a venue, theoretically price out a venue and then when you get right down to the end of it, there’s a lot more that you have to pay for that you may not have realized.

What is the best strategy to determine if the space has been priced accordingly?

I think the ultimate determination would be if you’re ok with paying the price, that’s kind of the ultimate way that everything falls. I would say that if you understand that midrange where the top spaces in an area are priced, then it becomes about what’s unique about the space you have. What are they including that the other ones aren’t? Those sorts of things. You can kind of get a good understanding of its a fair price for you.